a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for making fiber bed elements.
b. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to make a fiber bed element which is useful for removing mists or aerosols from gas streams by packing randomly distributed fibers in the annulus formed by two concentric screens. This process involves large amounts of labor and time. Also, it is very difficult to obtain a uniform packing density in the fibers making up the fiber bed element. In order to compensate for uneven packing densities in such a fiber bed element, it has usually been necessary to make the element significantly thicker in order to prevent gas channeling and lowered efficiencies. This results in the use of more fiber and a higher pressure drop across the element. The additional fiber required increases manufacturing cost and the greater pressure drop requires more energy to drive the gas through the element.
The apparatus of the present invention produces a fiber bed element having a very uniform packing density throughout the element with the use of a minimum of fiber and requires significantly less time and labor to produce the element.